Through the Night
by Verdreht
Summary: "He stayed there through the night." Tsume is badly injured, and it doesn't look good. He tells Kiba to take the others and run, but can Kiba really leave his mate behind? Even if it only means the wounded wolf won't have to die alone... TsumexKiba KibaxTsume yaoi
1. Chapter 1

"Keep that up, you're gonna wear a hole in the floor."

Kiba glanced over at Hige, but otherwise ignored him and continued his path across the room.

Hige went on. "I'm serious," he said. "This place looks one good gust of wind away from falling in on itself. Maybe we shouldn't be here when that happ—?"

"They should be back by now."

"Huh?"

Kiba turned from his post by the window. Hige was watching him with an expression akin to confusion from his seat against the far wall.

"They've been gone too long. It shouldn't take this long to get food." The city wasn't by any means well off, but they'd passed plenty of food carts on the way in. Tsume and Toboe should've been out and back in ten minutes.

Hige raised an eyebrow. "They barely left fifteen minutes ago," he said, and with a hearty stretch, he propped his hands behind his head and leaned back. "You worry too much."

"Maybe." He wasn't so sure. Perhaps he was overreacting, perhaps he was just being paranoid, but…he had a bad feeling. Something just didn't sit right. It had him on edge.

Apparently, that made one of them.

"Don't get your hackles in a bunch," Hige sighed, looking for all the world like he couldn't have given a damn even if he tried to. Sometimes, Kiba wondered if he _worked_ to be so lazy, or if it just came naturally to him. "I'm sure they'll be back anytime now."

Kiba didn't reply. Hige was probably right; he was probably just overreacting. There was just something about the town he didn't like. The people…they didn't smell savory.

Sighing, Kiba turned back to the window. They were on the outskirts of town, in one of the abandoned buildings. As far as shelters went, it wasn't the worst: there was a wooden floor, even some mats and blankets left behind, probably from squatters, that didn't even smell off – and he'd checked. There was a roof over their head, stone walls to block out the harsh, cold winds, and no matter what Hige said, Kiba was confident it would survive the night. Clearly, it had survived quite a few before.

Besides, anything was better than being out in the rain. Through the window, Kiba could see it coming down in steady sheets, and he almost felt guilty sending the other two out in it for food. Toboe had volunteered – it was his turn, anyway – but Tsume had cuffed him upside the head and followed him out without a word. In typical Tsume fashion, he hadn't offered an explanation, but Kiba wondered if maybe he had sensed what Kiba had. This place was not somewhere to wander off alone.

He frowned, his eyes searching the street for that telltale black leather he'd grown so fond of, for that silver hair that shone like moonlight. He knew him, knew his look, his smell – like leather and spices and musk…like _strength_ – his sound. He knew his mate, and he'd know the moment he saw him.

Only, what he saw…it wasn't Tsume.

A familiar figure tore down the street, and Kiba knew even before he saw the silver bands glinting on its paw that it was one of theirs.

"Toboe!" Without hesitation, he braced a hand on the window sill and leapt out into the rain. Behind him, he heard Hige following, but he didn't wait for him. Instead, he ran out to meet the youngest of their pack as he sped towards them. The youngest was out of breath, and he reeked of panic and desperation. It showed in his eyes as his human form approached them.

"What's wrong? What happened?" he heard Hige ask as he ran up from behind him.

His heart seized, and before Toboe could answer Hige's questions, he grabbed the younger man by the shoulders. "Toboe! Where's Tsume?"

Toboe couldn't seem to catch his breath. "B-back there," he choked out. "I didn't mean to—I didn't think they would—he told me to run, and I didn't know what to do, and—"

"Slow down!" Kiba snapped, perhaps a little more harshly than he meant to. It worked all the same, though, and Toboe's eyes finally locked on his face. He had his attention; that was a start. "Tell me what happened, Toboe. Were you attacked?" Toboe's clothes were torn, and Kiba could smell the copper of blood diluted in the rain, though Toboe himself appeared uninjured.

"We were in the market," Toboe managed, still more than a little breathless. "I thought it was okay, but I was wrong. I went in, and there were a bunch of men. They attacked us, and Tsume saved me, but he—we couldn't both get out. He told me to run, and I didn't have a choice. I ran as fast as I could. We have to help him! Please, we have to help him!"

Kiba didn't need to be told twice.

"Show us where he is!"

Hige started behind him. "Hey, we can't just rush into it!" he protested, reaching for Kiba's shoulder. "We could get ourselves—"

Kiba smacked his hand away. "Stay here if you want. I'm going to find him." His mate was in trouble; he had to find him. He had to help him.

Wisely, Toboe didn't argue, and as he took off, even Hige didn't say another word.

They just ran.


	2. Chapter 2

Kiba knew they'd found the fight the moment they reached that alleyway. He knew, because the smell of blood and sweat and booze hit him like a wall as soon as he rounded the corner. The sight of the bodies scattered across the muddy ground came soon after. There were a few people up, helping their buddies onto their feet.

Some, however, were beyond helping. Crimson liquid mixed into the brown of the mud, and Kiba found his eyes drawn to the torn throat of one of the men on the ground. The man was dead, as were two – no, _three_ of his peers. A good half dozen men remained, in various states of bloody and scared. One man, fetid with the smell of piss and fear, was helped across the alley by a buddy, and Kiba could hear him moaning as he passed.

"I don't know what happened. We had it cornered and it just went wild…It was like a beast from hell."

Kiba's gut wrenched. That beast from hell…that was Tsume. It had to be Tsume. They had cornered him, the fools. Never corner a wolf; it was when they were at their most dangerous. From the sounds of things, Tsume had snapped, and he'd left a trail of bodies in his wake.

"We're leaving."

"What?" Hige gaped loudly, only to back down a little at Kiba's withering glare. They were back behind the corner, out of sight, and Kiba wanted to keep it that way.

"He's not here," Kiba said. That was all the explanation he offered, though, before he turned on his heel and ran. There was blood everywhere, but even amongst the rest of it, he could pick out one particular scent. He locked onto that scent, and he tracked it, leaving the others to follow or stay behind.

He had been worried before; he was beyond that, now. He smelled Tsume's blood – his _mate's_ blood. The air was thick with it, and it was driving him mad.

"Kiba, slow down!" he heard Toboe call behind him, but it sounded distant. His pulse was throbbing in his ears; his legs couldn't move fast enough. He _knew_ where his Tsume would go, and he had to get there quickly.

The house they had been staying in came into view, and Kiba ran that much faster. The scent was stronger now. He couldn't just smell blood – he could smell _Tsume_. He could feel him.

Kiba pushed through the door and into the run-down old house.

He froze.

A snarl echoed in the room, low and warning, and it raised the hairs on Kiba's neck. He tensed, his keen eyes scanning the dark room until—

"Tsume." The word left his lips in a gasp as his eyes settled on the dark form in the corner of the room. As thunder rumbled viciously in the background, lightening lit up the room, and in that instant, Kiba realized something was terribly, terribly wrong.

Tsume was snarling _at them_. His hackles were raised, his head lowered and his jowls pulled back around his teeth. The smell of blood was pungent, almost _sickening_, and for a long moment, Kiba was rooted in his spot by a single horrifying realization:

Tsume was afraid of him.

The thought hurt on an almost physical level, but Kiba tried to shake it off. There were more important things. The scent of blood in the air was strong, and it was Tsume's. He was hurt, and it was bad. Kiba had to find out _how_ bad.

To do that, though, he had to get close to him first.

Lowering his head not quite submissively, but non-threateningly, Kiba took a tentative step forward.

Tsume took a step back and snarled a little louder.

Kiba tried to ignore it. "Easy, Tsume, easy. It's me, okay? It's just me." He took another step, and Tsume matched it. He realized, then, that Tsume was limping. Only, the gray wolf wasn't just holding his back left leg up off the ground; he was dragging it behind him, and blood smeared across the floor where it touched. "You're hurt," he said, and his gut twisted even further as Tsume's ears pulled back against his head. It was as if he was afraid of his weakness, afraid that Kiba had noticed. "Hey, I'm not going to hurt you. Just let me see."

This time, when he took a step forward, his heart skipped. Tsume didn't step back.

He nodded his approval. "Good," he said. "That's good." And he took another step forward. The whole time, his eyes never left Tsume's. He had to make him see, had to make him understand that he wasn't going to hurt him.

Tsume, for his part, seemed to be gauging him. His gold eyes tracked every movement; his ears twitched with every sound. He was waiting; Kiba was waiting. It was like a dance, a spell woven between them as each regarded the other.

But then, in an instant, the spell was broken.

"Tsume, you're okay!" And before Kiba could stop him, before he could even _warn _him, Toboe came running into the house. He did stop, but by then, it was too late. Tsume, suddenly outnumbered and, once again, cornered, lashed out. He launched forward, jaws open around a vicious bark that echoed like its own crack of thunder.

Kiba had no time to speak, only to act, and in the blink of an eye, that bark became a high-pitched yelp as Kiba's fist closed around Tsume's scruff.

He tried to be gentle, but with Tsume's momentum and his own adrenaline, there was only so much he could do. He pulled the wolf back, curling his arm around his neck and pinning him to the ground. After a close call where teeth came alarmingly close to closing around his jaw, Kiba pressed the side of Tsume's head down to the ground.

Damned if Tsume didn't fight for all he was worth. Growls more vicious and desperate and _feral_ than any Kiba had ever heard rumbled against the crook of his elbow as the wolf thrashed and snapped as best he could, to no avail.

"What the hell's going—"

"Get out!" Kiba snapped at Hige. "Both of you! Get out!"

"But—"

Kiba cut Toboe's meek protest short. "I said get out!" There was a house next door in similar shape to this one; it would keep them out of the elements. He didn't know where Tsume's head was at, and he couldn't worry about them and take care of his mate, too. He needed them out.

Mercifully, they complied, hesitantly ducking out of the one-room house and leaving him alone with the snarling wolf in his arms.

"Don't fight me," he ground out, his teeth gritted with the effort of restraining the other wolf. In their pack, Tsume had always been the strongest in terms of sheer power and combat ability – sometimes, Kiba wondered if the only reason he wasn't Alpha was because he couldn't be assed to take it on – and even injured as he clearly was, he was a force to be reckoned with. Arm around his neck, hand braced against the side of his head, practically _lying_ on him, Kiba was still having to struggle to keep him down.

Fierce growls, punctuated by sharp yelps, filled the air of the room, and the sound of them turned Kiba's stomach. Those weren't growls of frustration at being overpowered; they weren't growls of protest at being restrained.

Those growls were feral.

They told Kiba, in not so many words, that Tsume thought he was a threat. They told Kiba that he better kill Tsume quickly, because if he didn't, if Tsume got loose, he wouldn't hesitate.

Part of Kiba rose at the challenge, but it was overpowered by the part that found horror in the very idea. That was the part of him that won out.

"Damn it, Tsume, listen to me!" he shouted. "It's me! Don't you understand? I'm not going to hurt you!" He tightened his grip, pressing his nose into the thick gray fur behind his lover's ear. It was as close to an embrace as he could manage, and he held him there, saying gently, "I would never hurt you, Tsume. It's okay, now. It's okay."

Again and again, he repeated the mantra, his voice cracking over the words and his closed eyes burning with tears. He didn't know why Tsume had snapped. Some sort of shock, maybe – Kiba couldn't see his injuries yet, but they smelled bad. Too much blood – his fur was matted with it, especially his left haunch and the back of his head. A concussion, maybe?

He'd been trapped and hurt and, knowing Tsume, worried. He knew his mate. Even if he would never say it, even if he wouldn't admit it, he worried about their pack perhaps most of everyone. He'd told Toboe to run, to get safe, while he took on all those humans by himself.

Too many emotions, Kiba thought. Too many intense feelings, and, between blood-loss, fatigue, and that nasty bump on his head, too little capacity for sorting through them It was no wonder he'd snapped.

No more than a second later, Kiba realized he'd made a mistake. He'd let his guard down, and before he had a chance to correct it, he felt something sharp bite into the meat of his upper arm. Reflexively, he jerked back, only to realize he'd played into the wolf's plan.

Like he'd said: Tsume's combat ability was nothing short of startling.

In an instant, Tsume was jumping forward. He reacted almost as quickly, reaching for the wolf's scruff again. It was a surefire way to stop him short, if only for a second. A second was all he needed.

He didn't even get that.

No sooner had his fingers closed around thick fur than it seemed to disappear from his fingers. He heard a very _human_ grunt, and watched as long limbs wrapped in black streaked across the room impossibly fast.

As he straightened, so did Tsume, though the man didn't manage to rise to his full height. Knife in one hand at the ready, the other hand braced against the wall, Tsume stared him down with those golden eyes like _he_ was the enemy.

"Tsume…" he breathed. Without the guise of fur to conceal them, his wounds were clear. His silver hair was matted with red that continued in rivulets down his face. A hole was torn in his pants, ragged and uneven, wept blood freely. A gash on his belly did the same, and as Kiba watched, his chest seemed to expand unevenly as Tsume heaved in breath after rapid, shallow breath.

It was hard to tell how much of the blood around his mouth was Kiba's, and how much of it was Tsume's own.

The throbbing in Kiba's arm suggested the former, and Kiba was inclined to hope it was right. The less of that blood was Tsume's, the better. A bite was nothing – it would heal. Whatever frenzy had gripped Tsume, whatever panic was staring back at him from those gold eyes, it took precedence.

"Please," he said, "don't make me do this." Even as he spoke, though, he crouched in preparation of another attack. Knife or not, Tsume didn't stand a chance against him. He just wasn't sure he could put him down without hurting him further, and he didn't want to inflict any more punishment. He didn't know if Tsume could _handle_ any more punishment.

But then—

There!

Just before Kiba made his move, he saw it: a flash of recognition – a break in the fog. Tsume's narrowed eyes widened, his snarl slackened in a gasp, and Kiba watched as he brought an unsteady hand to his face and smeared the back of his hand across his mouth.

When he saw the red, when his eyes fell to the back of his hand, he looked nothing short of mortified.

"I…" His eyes rose from his hand to Tsume, and the horror, the guilt, the confusion in them nearly stole Kiba's breath. "Ki…ba…I—"

Kiba saw his knees tremble, then buckle, but by then, he was already in motion. He caught Tsume before he hit the ground, catching his shoulders before they could follow his knees to the ground.

The first tear that slipped down Tsume's cheek was like a knife through Kiba's heart.

"I didn't—I…I'm sorry, I…" Tsume struggled for words, his voice strained with what Kiba could only guess to be equal parts physical and emotional pain. "Kiba, I'm so—"

Kiba wrapped his arms around his mate's shoulders and pulled him into a careful, but firm embrace. "Don't apologize," he said.

To his relief, he felt Tsume relax a little, only to tense again. "Toboe? Is he—?"

"He's okay. Maybe a little rattled, but he'll be fine." Had he forgotten so quickly that he'd seen him? Or had it just not registered? Either way, it didn't matter. "I'm glad you're okay."

A soft rumble, almost like a chuckle, rattled in Tsume's chest dryly. It didn't sound right; it didn't sound _good_. And then he said two words that froze Kiba in his tracks.

"Get out."


	3. Chapter 3

He stiffened. "What?" Pushing Tsume back, he met his gaze, searching for something, anything…

All he got was a stony stare of pained, but _firm_ conviction. "You…you and the others…" Tsume could barely rasp the words out; the effort seemed to wring every ounce of his will from his body. It was like he couldn't breathe, or, at least, couldn't quite catch his breath. All the same, his eyes were filled with that same intensity they always were, and he stared matched Kiba's gaze with every ounce of pain, sadness, regret, and stronger still, _love_, and said, "You should go."

Suddenly, Tsume wasn't the only one who couldn't breathe. He struggled to find words to express his confusion – did Tsume feel guilty for trying to attack Toboe? For biting him? He didn't understand why – why would he tell them to go. And the way he'd said it… _you guys_…like he wouldn't be coming with them.

"I don't understand."

Tsume's lips curled into a smile that was as much a grimace as anything. "Don't…don't be stupid. They'll come…I...I killed them." He let out another rasped chuckle, and Kiba flinched at the sudden clang of Tsume's knife clattering to the ground. He glanced down to see Tsume's hand come to curl around his middle while the other gripped Kiba's shoulder almost painfully tight. "There're rules, remember? They'll—" Tsume's sentence ended abruptly in a round of wracking coughs so fierce they doubled the man over.

The smell of fresh blood burned in Kiba's nose.

"Come on," Kiba said, bracing Tsume's shoulders as he started to list. "You're hurt. You need to lay down." And he went to help him do it, only to have his hands smacked away.

"Go!" Tsume snapped, his sharp teeth bared in a snarl. It was all a front; he didn't have the strength to back it up, and even with the one action, he'd thrown his balance off. There was nothing Kiba could do to stop him from falling, his upper body twisting until his shoulder hit the ground.

The grunt that broke from Tsume's lips was sickening.

Kiba practically scrambled to his side, but when he reached for him, Tsume shrugged him off. A surge of hurt welled in Kiba's chest at the rejection, but it was quickly replaced by a wave of indignation. Tsume thought he could dismiss them so easily? He thought they would just leave him and run off with their tails between their legs? They were wolves; they had more pride than that.

"You bastard!" Kiba growled, and with more force than he needed or even _intended_ to use, he pushed Tsume onto his back. Before the injured man could fight back, he pinned him. He straddled his waist, and when Tsume tried to push him off, he caught the man's wrists and pushed them up over his head. "No! You're not going anywhere, Tsume – not while you're hurt like this! And neither are we!"

Tsume growled right back, and somehow, despite his condition and his predicament, he still managed to sound so fierce. "Moron!" he barked, only to grimace as another cough forced its way up. Kiba winced, too, as blood flecked on his face, and when Tsume managed to stop coughing, the sad, almost apologetic look on his face made Kiba's heart seize. "You have to…have to go, Kiba…I—I can't."

"What do you mean you can't?!"

Tsume didn't respond, but the look in his eyes was enough. They were the eyes of something that had accepted its fate. They were the eyes of something that was…that was…

"No!" The cry ripped from Kiba's throat, full of desperation and denial. "You can't—you aren't—Tsume, you're gonna be okay. You'll heal!"

Another chuckle that ended in a cough. Another wince that ended in a smile. He didn't say anything, because he didn't have to. Kiba could smell the blood, could hear the rattle in his mate's chest with every shaky breath. Even keeping his eyes focused seemed to be a battle, and it was a battle Tsume was steadily losing. Tsume was steadily…he was…

He was dying.

It was all Kiba could do to shift off his lover's broken body and collapse on his knees beside him. He could see it now, all the wounds he hadn't seen, all the blood the darkness had hidden. He could see the sickly pallor that had overtaken his usual healthy golden tan, and the tension that coiled in his whole body. It wasn't enough that he was dying. No, he was suffering, too. He was in pain.

And yet, he was still smiling, that same crooked, cocky smile of his.

"I should…kick your ass for…for looking at me…like that," Tsume ground out. He tried to push himself up, but only made it a few inches before his trembling limbs gave out from under him and he fell back to the ground.

Kiba only barely managed to catch his head before it hit the ground, and the tacky feeling of dry and wet blood, mixed with the rain, made his skin crawl. He tried to push it down. He wouldn't waste this time on a feeling like disgust.

"Stop moving, idiot," he said, but it came out more like a plea. He cursed himself as tears slipped from his eyes, falling to Tsume's cheeks. "Just—just stop, okay?" After no more than a moment's pause, however, _Kiba_ started moving.

"Kiba…what…?" Confusion played across Tsume's pale face as Kiba managed to snag a couple with his foot and pull them over. He balled one up and tucked it under Tsume's head before shifting to the side a little. With practiced, albeit shaking fingers, he undid the belt on Tsume's jacket. As he lifted Tsume to pull it off, though, the wolf let out a soft yelp and a growl.

"Easy, Tsume, easy," Kiba soothed. "I'm sorry; I need to get this off you." And he did, with a little bit of maneuvering. The shirt was considerably easier – a few slices of Tsume's knife, and it was gone.

Tsume was a wreck. His ribs were misshapen, the gash across his belly puckered and opened as his chest heaved unevenly. His skin was smeared with blood, still wet from the rain, and Kiba noticed his whole body seemed to be trembling. Cold or shock – maybe a little bit of both – but Kiba couldn't help it yet. Instead, he devoted his attention to pulling the belt from the bottom of the jacket. He knew from past, happier experience, that it was a full belt just slipped through the fabric, and once he'd gotten it free, he crawled down to Tsume's leg.

"Don't," Tsume choked out as Kiba tenderly slipped the belt beneath his leg. Gritting his teeth around a silent apology, Kiba pressed a wadded-up piece of Tsume's shirt to the gaping wound on his leg and, in the same fluid motion, pulled the belt tight around it.

Tsume absolutely _roared_.

Kiba was back at his side in an instant, grabbing Tsume's hands before they could grab at his leg. He held them in his own, pressing kisses to the backs of his knuckles. "I'm sorry," Kiba managed through the lump in his throat. "I have to, Tsume. I have to try."

And through the haze of agony clouding those golden eyes, Kiba saw understanding. Even if Tsume knew he was going to die, even if he knew it wouldn't help, he would bear the pain. He would let Kiba try.

"Just…." Another rasped cry as Kiba tended to the wound on his belly similarly, tying the scrap of shirt in place with the hem of a blanket he'd torn free with his teeth. It took him a second before he seemed to remember how to breathe, and then he tried again, "…go now…please, go…before…"

Each word seemed to come harder than the last, until Kiba couldn't stand to hear it anymore. "I'm staying," he said, and before Tsume could manage to protest, he forced the rest, "through the night, at least. The storm's too heavy. The humans won't come out in this, and we can't leave. We're staying through the night."

Tsume seemed to consider it, and Kiba watched with mounting desperation as his mate's eyes slid closed. After a long moment, he gave a slight nod. "Just…just the…night." It seemed to make him happy; it seemed to pacify him. It seemed he wanted to be left alone no more than Kiba wanted to leave him alone – he'd just thought it was necessary.

"Kiba?"

Kiba turned to the door to see Toboe and Hige standing just inside it. He saw their eyes on Tsume, just as he saw Tsume trying to rise to meet them. Even dy—even like this, he couldn't stand them seeing his weakness. The stubborn bastard.

"Stay," he said, gently pushing Tsume's shoulder back to the ground. He rose instead. "Hige, Toboe, gather all the blankets in the house. We're staying here tonight."

There was a look in Hige's eyes that told Kiba he understood the situation, but Toboe…

"Tsume," he said. "Is he—?"

Hige turned and put a hand on his shoulder. "Come on – let's go get some blankets." And without giving Toboe a chance to protest, he practically dragged Toboe along with him to do what they were told.

Once they were gone, rather than going immediately back to Tsume, he picked up some blankets and spread them out over his mate's shuddering form. Kneeling, he let his hand fall gently to Tsume's hair where the blood hadn't quite reached. Through tear-blurred eyes, he watched white hair fade to grey fur beneath his fingers as man became wolf.

He took his hand away, and as Tsume turned bleary eyes to him, he slipped his arms under him. With the utmost care, he lifted his lover's limp form from the ground.

Tsume let out a soft whine.

"Shh," Kiba soothed, cradling his broken lover gingerly as he carried him over to the corner. It was the warmest place in the building and where most of the blankets were stored. "I know it hurts…I know." It hurt him, too, more than he thought anything could.

He eased Tsume down onto some blankets and sat down right next to him; Tsume's head rested on his lap, and his hand rested on his back.

"Is this okay?"

Tsume nosed his arm in response, and when Kiba winced, he let out another whine, his ears folding back against his head. He could barely move, now – Kiba watched him struggle just to move his head forward a few inches and lick the wound on Kiba's arm.

"Tsu…me…?"

_I'm so…so sorry…Kiba…_

More tears streamed down Kiba's cheeks. "Stop apologizing," he whispered, his voice shaking. "Just try to sleep. I'll be here."

_Only through the night…promise me…only…through the night._

"I promise…" One night…one last night.

Satisfied, Tsume let his head drop again with another whine. He was still shaking, Kiba realized. Still cold. He couldn't take away his pain, but at least he could fix that.

Shrugging out of his jacket, he draped it around his mate. His slipped his hand beneath it, carding his fingers through what little of Tsume's fur wasn't matted with blood. Tsume would never admit it, but he loved being petted. He loved any sign of affection, really: he was just too proud and, Kiba thought, too _scared_ to ask for it. But Kiba knew…he knew if Tsume'd had the energy, he would've leaned into the touches. He would've scowled, he would've grumbled about it later, but he was always so happy.

And now….

Tsume whimpered, though whether it was because he could sense Kiba's thoughts, or because he was in pain, Kiba didn't know. It had to be bad, the pain; Tsume was piteous…broken.

The thought nearly broke Kiba down entirely. As it was, he barely managed to muffle the sob behind his other hand, clamped tightly over his mouth. Only when he was confident it wouldn't bubble up again did he take his hand away, and whisper a gentle assurance.

"It's okay…just focus on my voice. Don't think about anything else." _Don't think about how much it hurts._ "I'm here, Tsume. I'm here. It's going to be okay."

_Kiba, I…I want you to find…_

"We'll find paradise together," Kiba interrupted him. "We'll find paradise together."

Tsume's ears twitched, and despite everything, Kiba could've sworn he was smiling. _Already…found mine. _He nuzzled closer, even the tiny gesture seeming to exhaust him. He seemed to think it was worth it, though. _You should...should know…I love you, Kiba._

There was nothing Kiba could do, then. He leaned his head back against the wall, and he let the tears fall freely. This was it…one last night. "I love you, too, Tsume." It wasn't quite a sob, but Kiba had never spoken harder words. He'd never _hurt_ so much.

It would have been easier to run, he realized. It would've been easier to leave when he'd had the chance. But…he couldn't have.

He held him that night. He listened to his mate's pained whimpers, felt each and every one of his shuddering breaths, and he whispered the same lies over and over again, trying desperately to give the dying wolf some measure of comfort.

"It's going to be okay, Tsume. I'm here now…I won't leave you. It's going to be okay."

And he stayed there through the night.


	4. Chapter 4

Kiba woke the next morning to the sunrise.

The storm had cleared sometime before dawn, and in its wake, beams of light poured in through the window. Reds and golds played across his closed lids like fire…it must have been a beautiful sunrise.

Kiba willed it away.

No matter how beautiful it was, the sunrise meant the end of the night. Opening his eyes to it meant admitting…meant accepting…

"Kiba, we have to go."

He ignored Hige's prompting.

"Kiba! The humans are coming out. We have to go now."

Since when was Hige the voice of reason, Kiba wanted to know. It wasn't fair; he couldn't suddenly change like this. Too much had changed.

A hand on his shoulder startled him, and before he could stop himself, he opened his eyes. The sunlight was waiting to greet him, to taunt him. I win, it said, and Kiba was crushed by the defeat. It was over, then. The night was…

"Come on," Toboe said, his eyes soft. They were rimmed with red and puffy like he'd been crying.

Kiba couldn't stand to look at them any more than he could stand to see the light, but in averting his eyes, he saw the sight that truly broke him.

In his lap, beneath Kiba's jacket, Tsume lay still. Unmoving. Kiba's hand had fallen from his fur, and he couldn't bring himself to raise it again. He didn't think he could bear feeling it…the limp weight of his head on Kiba's legs was painful enough.

But then, a hand appeared, pale on the dark fur.

A growl broke from Kiba's lips on its own, and a small shred of satisfaction rose when the hand jerked away with the metallic clang of bracelets.

It was quickly overcome by a surge of guilt as he raised his gaze to see Toboe staring down, his eyes newly wet with tears.

"I'm sorry," he whimpered. "I just…I wanted to make sure he was—" Toboe couldn't seem to finish the sentence, and Kiba was silently grateful for it. That was a word he wasn't ready to hear. It was a truth he wasn't ready to accept.

"Guys, I'm serious. They'll be here, soon."

Kiba knew that. And he knew he'd promised Tsume…just through the night. The night was over.

It was time for them to go.

With shaking hands, Kiba reached up to lift Tsume's hand. Toboe seemed to sense Kiba's weakness, because he went to help him, lifting the dense weight of Tsume's still form from his lap.

It was all Kiba could do to make his body move. He ordered his legs to straighten, begged them to support his weight, and with stiff, unsteady steps, he walked away.

He'd made it almost to the door when Toboe spoke.

"Kiba, your jacket," he said. Kiba couldn't bring himself to look back, but he could tell from the sound of Toboe's voice that he was still back by Tsume.

He shook his head. "Leave it." It would smell of _him_. It would smell of death, and Kiba didn't think he could bear it.

"Are you sure? It's still so cold out—"

"I said leave it!" Kiba snarled, twisting around to glower at the troublesome pup.

Only…Toboe didn't even seem to have heard him. He didn't yelp or whimper like he usually did when he was scolded. His eyes were wide, but he wasn't looking at Kiba. He was looking at—

"It's still warm," he breathed. In his hands was Kiba's jacket.

Kiba nearly snapped at him again – _stop wasting time_, he wanted to shout; _stop holding us back when I can barely bring myself to leave_ – but before he could even form the first words, it hit him.

It was cold in the building. His breath condensed into fog before his face.

It was cold.

And Kiba's jacket was warm.

Kiba all but dove forward at the realization, the cool wood biting into his knees as he landed on them and slid a good few inches. "Tsume!" he shouted, ripping at the blankets he wrapped the wolf in desperately. "Tsume, can you hear me? Wake up! Please wake up!" He lifted Tsume's head from the ground, cradling it in his arm as he brushed his fingers through the thick fur. Fresh tears welled anew in his eyes, and he buried his face in Tsume's neck. So easily he was broken. A single shred of hope had reduced him to a frenzy, and he couldn't even bring himself to care. "Come on, Tsume, please. You're not dead. You can't be dead."

He didn't _know_. He couldn't _tell_. The whole place smelled of blood – it reeked of it, and Kiba couldn't smell anything else. He hadn't felt him moving, but maybe he…maybe he—

"Kiba, look!"

Toboe's exclamation startled Kiba into jerking back, and when he did…

A sliver of gold greeted him.

It wasn't much – barely enough to see, even, but before Kiba's eyes, the sliver disappeared, appeared again, widened…Tsume was blinking. He was awake, if only barely. He was…

Alive.

An impossible grin broke across his face. Despite everything, Tsume had made it through the night. Maybe he was getting ahead of himself, but Kiba didn't care. Tsume had done what even _Kiba_ had thought was impossible. If he had survived the night, if his wounds were already on the mend, then maybe,

"You're gonna be okay," Kiba said, and this time, it wasn't a lie.

That single sliver of gold rolled back to him, though Tsume didn't move. He barely even seemed to breathe, and had the blankets still been in place, Kiba would never have been able to discern the faint rise and fall of his chest.

_Ki…ba…?_

"He's alive?" Hige said from the doorway.

"Yeah!" Toboe called back, before dropping back to a squat next to the two. "He's gonna make it, isn't he, Kiba?"

Kiba managed a nod. The lump in his throat kept him from saying anything, though, until he'd swallowed it back. "Yeah, he…he's gonna make it."

_You're…here…Kiba…? _

Kiba adjusted Tsume's head in the crook of his elbow and petted the softer fur on the side of his face. "I'm here. We all are."

Tsume's response was not what Kiba was expecting. Instead of happiness, his whole body seemed to tense. He seemed to go on alert, and though he couldn't manage much more than a weak snarl, his hackles rose, and he looked…angry.

_Go! You…promised…Ki—_

Kiba just smiled. "I did promise," he said. "And I didn't lie." He turned to the others. "Hige, help me with him."

"No…."

Turning back, Kiba saw the Tsume's form had shifted. His chest was bare, but the makeshift bandages were still in place. He was trying to push himself up, only to growl in protest as Kiba stopped him.

"Don't be stubborn," he said, neither angrily nor comically. Picking up his jacket from where Toboe had unceremoniously dropped it, he picked up one of Tsume's arms and very deliberately and carefully guided his arm into it.

"Stop."

Kiba just put the other arm through.

"Kiba…"

He pulled the jacket up over his shoulders and very carefully zipped it up, trying to ignore the way Tsume grunted as the zipper moved over the bindings on his belly. He slipped an arm behind his shoulders and started to help him sit up.

"Kiba, I—" He grimaced, his arm furling around his middle. It only got worse as Kiba pulled him up, pulling his arm over his shoulder. "I can't…can't walk," he ground out.

"I'm not asking you to."

And without another word, Kiba pulled Tsume the rest of the way up onto his back. The man was heavy, and he was taller, but Tsume was thin. Especially as wolves, there wasn't too much difference in their size; he could bear the burden. Happily, he could bear it, especially after he'd experienced the alternative.

He shuddered at the thought and hoped Tsume didn't notice. Adjusting his grip on his injured mate, he started for the door. "Come on," Kiba said. "Let's go."

_I told you…to go._

_ You told me to find my paradise, too. _

_ But you stayed…_

_ Of course I did._ Kiba stepped out into the sun, and this time, it didn't seem so daunting. It truly was a beautiful day. _It wouldn't be paradise without you._

He felt Tsume inhale sharply – not quite a gasp, but he could sense his surprise. But then, as soon as it came, it passed with a soft sigh of hot air that ghosted past Kiba's ear.

He couldn't see his face, but somehow, he knew Tsume was smiling.


End file.
